Jim Penman writes he would not return to San Bernaradino City Hall: Letters

I understand that representatives of one of the mayoral candidates are telling voters, door to door, that if a certain candidate becomes mayor, that new mayor will hire me as the mayor’s chief of staff.

I would not accept such a position from either Carey Davis or Wendy McCammack.

If nominated, I would decline, and if confirmed I would not serve.

I have joined the law firm of Milligan, Beswick, Levine and Knox and intend to focus on making up for the numerous 5 percent annual pay raises I refused, or for which I did not apply, during the majority of the 26 years I served the people of San Bernardino as their city attorney.

Therefore, I will not be returning to City Hall to work under either a Mayor McCammack or a Mayor Davis.

I will be pleased to repeat the above promise personally to any voter if any one of you still believes the dishonest campaign bullfeathers to which I refer in the first paragraph of this letter.

— James F. Penman, Attorney at Law, Milligan, Beswick, Levine and Knox, LLP, San Bernardino (Penman was San Bernardino’s city attorney from 1987-2013.)

Where did my sign for Carey Davis go?

I woke up to a breezy morning, not unlike most days in the Verdemont area. But my trash cans remained upright and all my flowers still had their petals, which was a good sign.

Something that was missing was my Carey Davis sign, the one I had just placed in my front yard the afternoon before. As I ran my errands I saw other lawn signs still intact. Karmel Roe, Henry Nickel, Wendy McCammack, and many others all held their ground. So where did my Davis sign go?

I’ve heard many others report their Davis signs have gone missing, and I’ve noticed there is not one Davis sign to be found in my neighborhood. That’s very surprising being that Davis is endorsed by five former mayoral candidates, the San Bernardino Retired Public Employees Association, Inland Valleys Association of Realtors and Supervisor Gary Ovitt, to name a few. So you can see why the lack of lawn signs is very surprising.

Carey Davis said himself that lawn signs don’t win elections, but the fact that they’re disappearing is concerning when you think about who would want to take them. I’m shocked enough as is that San Bernardino is even thinking about electing a woman who was recalled from the City Council in the same election, and I’m shocked again that there are those out there taking the signs of her opponent.

No, I’m not on Davis’ campaign. But I do endorse him and I will not have my First and 15th amendments rights taken away from me. I will most definitely be getting another sign. And if it too disappears I will get another one after that, and I will be keeping a very close eye on it, as we should also do with the people we are voting for.

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— Erin Durr, San Bernardino

Keep it clean

So City Council candidate Randy Wilson used an expletive on Channel 3 in the League of Women Voters’ candidate forum on Jan. 9 and expects us to vote for him. The use of foul language in a public meeting is not a quality of someone who claims to be a man of integrity.

Perhaps that’s the language they use in the union halls, so Mr. Wilson can stay there and let someone else represent us in the 5th Ward seat.

— Johnathan Ladson, San Bernardino

Election letters due

Letters about San Bernardino’s Feb. 4 election must be received by Monday, Jan. 27, to be considered for publication.